TWO brothers who run a caravan sales business are celebrating their most successful year, with turnover heading for the é30m mark.

Stan and Brian Laing's Glossop Caravans is the biggest dealership in the country. On its six-acre site, it holds more than 500 caravans and offers a children's area and other attractions to visitors. It is the biggest employer in the area, with more than 160 staff at its main site on the A57 at Brookfield, near Glossop, and sells around 50 caravans every week.

A service area was opened at nearby Woolley Bridge two years ago, increasing the staff total by about 30, and the brothers have just bought another two acres for storage nearby.

Stan, 62, says he and Brian, 49, started off in Droylsden in the 1970s, but, after a couple of years, moved to Brookfield, starting with about half the area they have now.

"We've bought an acre here and an acre there until we got to where we are now," says Stan. "But we won't be extending to any other sites elsewhere in the country or moving from where we are now. We have a small satellite site in Oldham, with about 80 vans on it, but any further expansion will be in Glossop."

Brian attributes the success of the business to its location - within reach of four counties (Yorkshire, Lancashire, Cheshire and Derbyshire), their attention to the appearance of their site and the fact that "we've just worked very hard".

"My brother Brian looks after the way we look," says Stan. "He is working now on a fountain and water feature for the front."

Brian says he would also like to add a site restaurant, but at present there simply isn't the space.

Growth

"We have seen steady growth in our industry, and particularly over the years since 9-11," says Brian. "Turnover has increased by about 50 per cent since then, as people are looking more at holidays at home - and, of course, the warmer weather has been very kind to us in recent years. And then the internet has helped people find out about us. They can look over what we have on our website before they make a visit.

"We're the biggest mover of second-hand vans in the country, too. We sell about 1,000 new caravans and motorhomes a year and the rest are used ones.

"But I think the secret of our growth is in the fact that we have always reinvested when we've had a good year. The business has been built over a long period of time - anyone trying to start a similar operation now would have enormous site costs and capital outlay for stock."

The firm sells extensively through regional caravan shows, such as the G-Mex one, where Stan says they usually have the biggest stand. And at the NEC in Birmingham they recently sold a record é4m-worth of caravans in a week, clinching deals for 30 to 40 every day.

"There's obviously something happening out there," says Stan. "People seem to be spending more time holidaying at home.

"We still meet our old mates from Clayton - and we get a bit of stick off them for being such a big concern."